How many series?

Only one, despite the subtitles that read "Book I of the Westlands series" and so on. The series will eventually fall into three quartets, which you can think of as acts in a play or "volumes" in a trilogy.

Act One: the Deverry books proper

Daggerspell

Darkspell

The Bristling Wood (Dawnspell)

The Dragon Revenant (Dragonspell)

Act Two: The Westlands

A Time of Exile

A Time of Omens

Days of Blood and Fire (A Time of War)

Days of Air and Darkness (A Time of Justice)

Act Three: The Dragon Mage

The Red Wyvern

The Black Raven

The Fire Dragon

The Gold Falcon (in progress)

The Twisted Timeline

Or, Why do you break everything up like that, anyway?

Because I'm perverse, that's why.

But seriously, folks . . . one of the ongoing themes of these books is the profound effect that the Past has on the Present. It sounds very dull when I state it outright, doesn't it? To add some life to this theme I've chosen to juxtapose major events in the Past with their effects on the Present, rather than starting at the beginning and going right through to the end. Consider the following graphic:

Well, those of you who have graphic browsers can contemplate it, at any rate. If you follow a single line, you'll see that at some points it runs over the other lines and at other points, it runs under. The Past in Deverry is one line, and the Present, another.

If you follow the lines far enough you'll realize that what appears to be two lines is actually only one, knotting round upon itself to form a pattern. What's more, while each knot looks like a separate entity, it's not merely connected to the whole -- it's formed by the whole.

There. Now it should be perfectly clear. Right? :)

Well, wrong, judging from a few letters I've gotten. All right . . . the "past lives" stories that appear in some volumes are one line of the interlacement. The "present time", that is, from Jill's birth onward, is another. They weave over and under each other to form the volumes, like knots. What's more, the underlying symbolism applies to each human life -- it appears distinct but is part of a larger pattern.

Eventually, the last "past life" section in the final volume will link up with the "present time" section in Daggerspell. And then the pattern will be complete and, hopefully, everyone will be able to see it, even book reviewers. :)

Deverry on the Web

Many thanks to Amanda Jolly, who has started a "Katharine Kerr" email listserve at yahoo.com. The group discusses the Deverry books, other fantasy works, and rambles down other interesting paths. Everyone's welcome to join -- and it's free!